La Rosa dei Venti of Positano is a wonderfull residence situated in the oldest part of Positano the ...

The old roots of Positano fashion

In centuries past, the small village of Positano was famous for its work in silk and linen. Positano artisans were specialists in the production of wedding dresses and Canovaccio Street was the centre where these local artisans worked.

Clothes production in Positano is an old art, so old that you will find its beginnings rooted in the silk production, that at the end of the XVI century until the first half of the 1900’s, was considered one of the most flourishing artisan activities in Positano.

However it is not in this kind of production that we can trace the “primitive roots” of the Positanese workshops, which later created the famous Positano fashion between the end of the ‘50s and the beginning of the ‘60s.

Amongst the old artisan activities in Positano, there was also the production of raw linen which was used to make the so called “pannine” or “pannicelli” (small stretches of cloth, which were also used for therapeutic reasons to treat headaches).

However, the most precious use of linen, made white with a treatment in chalk milk, was for the production of wedding dresses; this is a very old Positano tradition.

The ultimate jewel of the manufacturers of Positano was the “tombolo”, a marvellous type of lace, particularly precious and, say some, was invented by nuns living in the convent at Chiesa Nuova.

If you want to have a look at the places where these artisan women used to work, you can walk along Canovaccio Street, in the centre of Positano.

Artisans of Positano have always been involved in clothes production and have always held high the name of this small village on the Amalfi Coast. In the past there were the famous silks and cloths of Positano but today the choice is considerably wider, ranging from swimming costumes, skirts, blouses, and everything you could possibly desire to wear, in perfect Positano style.